18 October: Tim Gill, Activist/ Political Donor

Tim Gill founded the highly successful computer company Quark, Inc. and created the Gill Foundation, one of the first major foundations to benefit the GLBT community.

“This fight is not just for the long haul. This fight is forever. ”

Tim Gill got hooked on computers when his high school acquired its first computer. It wasn’t long until he taught himself to create complex programs. Instead of following in his father’s footsteps as a physician as he had originally planned, he majored in applied mathematics and computer science at the University of Colorado.

In 1981, Gill borrowed $2,000 from his parents and started Quark, Inc. The road to success was not without obstacles, but in a few years’ time the company became a leader in desktop publishing software. Gill established a reputation for innovative, socially conscious business practices. His name appeared on the Forbes 400 list of the nation’s wealthiest people.

Gill began to speak out publicly as a gay man in 1992 when Colorado voters passed Amendment 2, which banned laws designed to protect GLBT people from discrimination. In 1994 he established the Gill Foundation with the mission of securing equal opportunity for all people, regardless of sexual orientation or gender expression.

In 2000, Gill sold his interest in Quark in order to devote his energies to the foundation. In 2004, the Gill Foundation endowment was $220 million.